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A review by m00dreads
Crooked House by Agatha Christie
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Agatha Christie said this was one of her personal favorites, and I can definitely see why. Of the four (a measly number, I know) AC books I’ve read, this one takes the silver. ( And Then There Were None still holds the gold)
I love love love it when an author isn't afraid to exploit reader bias—and there’s no better training ground for such a maneuver, I think, than a classic whodunnit. It’s the most effective form of misdirection because the culprit is our own presumptive nature. There was a *chef’s kiss* foreshadowing here that I almost wish I would’ve seen right through but alas, I’ve never been clever enough to trump a mystery. Let alone one from the world’s most seasoned veteran in the game. No shame, though!! I like being gobsmacked. There’s a simple joy to be found in being so easily pleased and impressionable sometimes.
Now on to the half-point deduction.
Crooked House was a good old-fashioned mystery in the sense that it forgoes the overtly psychological and internal drama in favor of theatricality and atmosphere. And it’s all by design; AC paperbacks are the kind you blitz through in one sitting when you’ve decided to turn in early on an uneventful Saturday evening and you want something fast-paced, entertaining, and non-committal. That’s not to say that Christie botched all character work—quite the opposite, as the members of her cast all have their trademark complexities—just that she botched the narrator’s.
I liked Charles Hayward the way one might like a pretty vase: easy on the eyes and goes well with any aesthetic, but at the end of the day just another empty vessel. Ironically enough, our dear narrator is the most weakly written character here. He’s a figure drawn with hazy lines, bereft of any distinctive feature. Essentially, his sole function was to be the pair of lenses through which readers could watch the plot unfold. Again, it makes sense given the purpose of the narrative. I myself probably wouldn’t have been so stingy with half stars, had my most recent point of reference not been Katherine Grey from my last AC book, The Mystery of the Blue Train . She was the kind of main character you rooted for and connected with, and so the difference was quite stark.
I love love love it when an author isn't afraid to exploit reader bias—and there’s no better training ground for such a maneuver, I think, than a classic whodunnit. It’s the most effective form of misdirection because the culprit is our own presumptive nature. There was a *chef’s kiss* foreshadowing here that I almost wish I would’ve seen right through but alas, I’ve never been clever enough to trump a mystery. Let alone one from the world’s most seasoned veteran in the game. No shame, though!! I like being gobsmacked. There’s a simple joy to be found in being so easily pleased and impressionable sometimes.
Now on to the half-point deduction.
Crooked House was a good old-fashioned mystery in the sense that it forgoes the overtly psychological and internal drama in favor of theatricality and atmosphere. And it’s all by design; AC paperbacks are the kind you blitz through in one sitting when you’ve decided to turn in early on an uneventful Saturday evening and you want something fast-paced, entertaining, and non-committal. That’s not to say that Christie botched all character work—quite the opposite, as the members of her cast all have their trademark complexities—just that she botched the narrator’s.
I liked Charles Hayward the way one might like a pretty vase: easy on the eyes and goes well with any aesthetic, but at the end of the day just another empty vessel. Ironically enough, our dear narrator is the most weakly written character here. He’s a figure drawn with hazy lines, bereft of any distinctive feature. Essentially, his sole function was to be the pair of lenses through which readers could watch the plot unfold. Again, it makes sense given the purpose of the narrative. I myself probably wouldn’t have been so stingy with half stars, had my most recent point of reference not been Katherine Grey from my last AC book, The Mystery of the Blue Train . She was the kind of main character you rooted for and connected with, and so the difference was quite stark.